The Ellen Datlow/SCI FICTION Project, that is. We're showing the love for five and a half years of great short fiction, and we need your help! We've got over 300 stories to cover, so if you're a person who loves short speculative fiction, we want you. Go here to read the list and add your voice.

"The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Home From the Stars" by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold: An Appreciation by Timothy Mahoney

Ever since my earliest reading of chapter books when I was in second grade, I have been drawn to the Science Fiction genre, and the fantasy worlds where my imagination could fly. Starting with the Tom Swift series, onto Robert Heinlein's juvenile fiction stories, ever deeper into his later works that made me ask questions and seek answers. L. Ron Hubbard, vocalizing his distaste for government in the Mission Earth Dekology, must also be included on this list.

Five years ago, I stumbled onto Scifi.com's SCI FICTION section, where I have been able to deeply feed upon the wondrous works of both masters and novices. It has given me stories of dread, and lighthearted fare. It has caused me to think, and to suspend belief. One of the most universal questions posed in these and many other great stories, is the question of Love. What defines it? What drives it? What drives us to it, or away from it?

"The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Home From the Stars" is a tale about love. Bruce Diedrich Was a Federal Agent with a job. After 6 years on the same assignment, his feelings for Kelly MacInnes grow. But in the very instant where he must decide between saving Kelly and saving himself, he saves himself. Some will call him a coward, and some will say he allowed Kelly to make her own choice.

Kelly had made her choice 12 years before, choosing to believe in her husband no matter the cost. In never doubting him, she added her life to the cost. We have seen the two sides of love, and one of many possible outcomes. We must ask ourselves 'Do I love and trust this person beyond all reason? Even if it costs me my life?' This is the hallmark of a great story, and one I will carry with me all of my life.